RV-14 Build

Tonight I pop riveted on the rod ends for the longer two aileron pushrods, and cut and drilled pilot holes for the shorter two. I also primed the threads of the rod ends for the longer pushrods. I didn’t get started until 10:30pm, as I’m quite busy at work this week.

Pop riveting the ends was straightforward. I needed to sand down the primer inside the tubes for two of the 4 ends, but they eventually all fit nicely.

With that done, I cut the two shorter pushrods from the supplied powder-coated steel rods. Then I marked and drilled the holes for the rod ends on these shorter two rods. I was getting quite tired, so I decided to finish by priming the threads on the rod ends.

After a week away, I came back to the garage tonight. I drilled the first set of aileron pushrods, and deburred the ends. None of the rod ends needed sanding, they all fit easily into the ends of the tubes.

To my surprise, I found that the template Vans supplied for drilling the holes was not to scale. I made my own out of some graph paper. I also used an off it to practice drilling using my pipe clamp on the drill press. It all worked ok, so I moved onto the real parts.

Tonight I added the flap hinge bearings, hung the right wing aileron, and marked the long aileron torque tubes for cutting. It was getting to late to attempt a cut tonight. I’m tired, and it will be quite noisy.

The plans have you squeeze the flap bearings in using a c-clamp, with a small socket set. The socket set allows you to squeeze the bearing through and have it protrude evenly on either side of the mount.

Hanging the aileron was not too difficult, just annoying trying to get all the washers and bearings on at the right place and time. A little patience and it was done. The aileron has a counterweight in the leading edge, so it rests against the stop in a full upwards deflection.

The torque tubes that run through from the wing root to the aileron bell-crank are 64.25 inches long. I marked the cuts I need on the two 6 foot lengths of tube.